


birthday wishes

by PilotInTheStars



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 'what's better than this? just guys being dudes', Birthday, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), a lot of feelings, like a lot, like slight angst, scott has big dad energy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:27:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28964613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PilotInTheStars/pseuds/PilotInTheStars
Summary: It's Cassie's birthday- her first one since the Snap was reversed- and Scott can't help but feel guilty about all the years and birthdays he's missed.
Relationships: Cassie Lang & Scott Lang, Scott Lang & Jim Paxton, Scott Lang/Hope Van Dyne
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	birthday wishes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sharknana29](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharknana29/gifts).



> A special happy birthday to @sharknana29. I love you and I'm so glad I met you a year and a half ago. I hope your birthday is the best! <3
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

The weight of the five years Scott had missed of Cassie’s life felt even heavier than it had been, now that they had reached July. Her birthday month.

He should have been preparing for her eleventh birthday, getting ready to have a middle schooler. Instead, his daughter was turning sixteen that day, and he still couldn’t process it. He wasn’t even sure what teens liked these days; getting her a gift had seemed an impossible task.

Cassie was at Maggie and Paxton’s house for the week, and Scott and Hope were set to come over for dinner and a movie night in the backyard. They were in charge of the cake, and Scott at least found solace that his daughter’s favorite cake flavor hadn’t changed- chocolate with strawberry icing.

It wasn’t until the night before where Scott and Hope realized that they didn’t have any cake making ingredients, or a pan to put it in. It was like their own adventure, running to the store the next morning to get what they needed. 

“I do have an important question,” he said in the store as Hope surveyed the aisle. “How old are _we_ supposed to be now?”

She picked up a can of frosting and met his gaze. “Too old?” she asked, slightly grinning at her own joke. “How old do _you_ consider yourself?”

To be honest, Scott didn’t know anymore. His birthday had passed while he was living in the Avengers Compound, away from his whole family, and he had chosen to distract himself from that fact by working on the time heist. A miserable birthday could at the least be remedied that a few weeks later the Snap was reversed, his entire family back in his life, which was definitely the best birthday wish he could have ever asked for.

And now, standing in the kitchen working on his daughter’s cake, he still didn’t have an answer for how old he was. He wasn’t Snapped, just stuck in the quantum realm. He didn’t _think_ he had aged five years in that amount of time. 

One thing was for certain though, it was Cassie’s sixteenth birthday and he still didn’t know how to process it. 

They were frosting the cake when Hope stole the spatula from him, claiming that his way was frustrating her, and then proceeded to ice the cake with methodical, scientific precision. 

_That was Hope._

“So… I don’t think you’ve ever told me your favorite type of cake.”

Hope looked up. “I’m not sure I have one.”

Scott shook his head. “That’s terrible. How can you not have a favorite cake?”

Hope shrugged. “I don’t know. Never thought of it.”

“Never?”

“Not that I can think of,” she said, handing him a little plastic package, with little candies shaped like soccer balls that they had found in the decorating aisle for the cake. He opened them up.

She had obviously noticed how quiet he had been. “What’s up?” she asked softly. 

“I just feel guilty. I missed so many birthdays, Hope.”

Hope gave him a sympathetic glance. “And that’s not your fault, Scott. You couldn’t help getting stuck there. You couldn’t help Thanos. You just being here now means the world to her.”

Hope leaned up and kissed him. 

“Believe me,” she continued. “That’s all I wanted from my dad when I was her age.”

* * *

They drove over to Maggie and Paxton’s house and carried the cake up to the front steps. Cassie was the one to open the door, and she immediately gave Scott a hug. 

“Happy birthday, Peanut!” he managed to say, after Cassie let go. He still wasn’t used to her being as tall as she was. _In his mind, she was still turning eleven._

“Thanks,” she said, smiling that smile that everyone said was his. 

Hope leaned in for a side hug, still carrying the covered cake pan in the other arm. “Happy birthday, Cass.”

They went inside and Scott was reminded of a birthday party nearly ten years ago now, his daughter’s birthday party that he hadn’t been invited to and crashed. Walking through the entryway this time felt much different than it did back then. It wasn’t his home, but he felt welcome. 

“Dad and Hope are here!” Cassie called into the kitchen. 

Paxton walked out, immediately giving Scott a hug. 

_It really was much different than all those years ago._

“I might need your electrical engineering skills for help with something,” Paxton said, letting go. “We’re setting up a projector for the movie out back.”

Luckily, the situation with the movie projector was an easy fix, easier than most of the systems he had designed for X-Con.

“She’s a lot happier now,” Paxton mentioned as Scott plugged the laptop into the projector. “Ever since everything’s been restored. And I’m glad, none of these kids deserved to have something like that thrown on them.

“This is the happiest birthday I think she’s had in years,” he continued.

“I’m glad, I’m really glad.” Scott stood up straight. “I just feel bad because I’ve missed so many.”

Paxton clapped him on the back. “It’s not your fault. None of us could help what that son of a bitch did.” He winced. “But don’t tell Maggie I said that, even if it’s true.”

“I won’t. Thank you for being there for Cassie, man. I appreciate it. I’m glad the two of you had each other.”

Paxton nodded. “And I’m glad she has everyone else back. And there’s some sense of normalcy again.”

Scott nodded. _But would there ever be normalcy again?_ He didn’t know.

* * *

Ever since being un-Snapped, Maggie had taken up a ton of home improvement projects, evidenced by the new curtains in every room, the tulips planted in the front garden, and the big wall of photos she had hung up in the hallway. 

They were about to watch a movie out back, a movie that had been released during the Snap, which Cassie loved and all of the others except Paxton hadn’t seen. Hope and Maggie were out there now while Cassie had ran up to her room to grab a sweatshirt. 

Scott looked at the photo wall. Baby photos all the way up until now, and photos that Paxton had all taken during the five years they’d all been gone. Cassie in her 8th grade graduation cap in front of her middle school, and her first day of high school. The day she got braces. The celebration when her soccer team won the championship. They were all holding up a giant trophy together, giant smiles on all of their faces.

_How could he not feel guilty for missing so much?_

“Dad?”

Scott turned and saw that Cassie had found her sweatshirt. She zipped it up. “Do you like Mom’s new photo wall?”

“I do,” Scott said. 

“I told her not to include this one,” Cassie said, wrinkling her nose at a picture that showed herself at age three as Scott worked on painting over a Crayola crayon masterpiece she had made on the dining room wall. 

“Oh I remember that day. You cried when I had to paint over it.”

“What can I say- I was an artist in the making.”

“So Mom found you those bathtub crayons at the store.”

Cassie grinned. “Yeah. Those were fun.” She looked at him. “You ok, Dad?”

He turned to her. “I…” He sighed. “I can’t help but feel guilty, Peanut. I missed over half your life, and I shouldn’t have. And some of it was my fault and some of it wasn’t, I know. That doesn’t mean I wish I couldn’t change things.”

Cassie took a glance at the photo wall again. “You know, every single birthday when you were gone, my birthday wish was that the Snap would be reversed. That everything would go back to normal. I just wanted you back, and same with Hope and Uncle Luis, and Hank and Janet too. I wanted my family back. And it feels like a dream sometimes.”

She gave him a smile. “All my birthday wishes from the past five years are true. I’m just happy you’re all back.” She gave him a hug. 

“Now I just have to find a new birthday wish,” she said.

Scott raised a brow. “And what are you thinking for your birthday wish now?”

“Well, I certainly can’t tell anyone,” Cassie said. She grinned. “Won’t come true otherwise.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! <3


End file.
